Rotary motion translating device



Feb. 27, 1940. A. B. POOLE ROTARY MOTION TRANSLATING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1' Filed July 28, 1939 we 3 w M M W m fi a Feb. 27, 1940. POOLE 2,191,541

ROTARY MOTION IRANSLATING DEVICE Filed July 28, 19:59 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 27, 1940 PATENT; OFFICE ao'may MOTION mansmrme DEVICE Arthur B. Poole, Bristol, Conn., assignor to The E. Ingraham Company, Bristol, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut Application July 29, 1999, Serial No-29mo97 lclairn.

This invention relates, to improvements in rotary motion translating devices whereby substantially-continuous rotary motion may be translated into an intermittent or step-by-step motion. The devices of the present invention are available for a wide variety of uses though particularly well adapted for effecting the periodic actuation of an electric switch.

One of the objects of the present invention is 19 to provide a superior rotary motion translating device which may be produced at a low cost for manufacture-and which may be relied upon over long periods of use to translate or convert a relatively slow substantially-continuous rotarymotion into a relatively-rapid intermittent or step-by-step motion.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a superior device of the character-referred to wherein the shock and wear of provid- 20 ing. for the rapid intermittent or step-by-step 30 With the above andpther objects in view, as

will appear to those skilled in the art from the present disclosure, this invention'includes all features in the said disclosure which are novel over the prior art and which are not claimed in any 35 separate application.

In the accompanying drawings, in which certain modes of'carrying out the present invention are shown for illustrative purposes:

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of one form 40 of a rotary motion translating device embodying the present invention and showing a portion of the front-plate broken away for clarity of illustration;

Fig. 2 is a top or planview thereof;

Fig. 3 is a broken sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2 and showing the parts in positions due to them just prior to the release. of the rotary stop-arm from one of the spring stop-arms;

Fig. 4 is a view corresponding to Fig. 3 but showing the rotary stop-arm after the same has completed a half revolution from the position in which it is shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a broken sectional view taken on the 'linei-iofFigJ; I

vice herein chosen for the purpose of illustrating one of the embodiments of the present invention, includes a front-plate i 0 and a back-plate l I held parallel with each other and in spaced relationship by a plurality of pillars i2.

Secured against .the rear face of the back-plate II is asynchronous-electric motor-structure l3 which requires no detailed description herein other than to point out that as shown the said motor-structure is provided with a power-output shaft l4.and'with lead-wires i5 and i6 which latter are adapted to be connected to any suitable source of alternating current in the usual manner of synchronous-electric motors. The said motor-structure l3, when energized, imparts an accurately-timed rotational movement to the power-output shaft l4 and therefore serves, in effect, as timing-means which obviously may be replaced if desired by an ordinary spring-operated time-movement or any other suitably timed driving-mechanism,

Rigidly mounted upon the forward portion of the power-output shaft l4 of the motor-structure I3 is a driving-pinion ll meshing into and driving a continuously-rotating gear-wheel 18 having a hub l9. The said gear-wheel l8 and its hub 19 are mounted with freedom for rotation upon a shaft 20 journaled at its front end in the frontplate I0 and at its rear end in the back-plate i I as is particularly well shown in Fig. 5.

Rigidly mounted upon the forward portion of the shaft 20 above referred to is an intermittently-rotating driven-pinion 2| having a rearwardly-projecting hub 22. Staked or otherwise rigidly secured to the hub 22, just referred to, is a rotary stop-arm 23 and a cup-shaped springbarrel 24. Housed mainly within the cup-shaped spring-barrel 24 is a helical transmitting-spring 25 having its forward end 26 bent forwardly and extended through an aperture 21 in the bottom or end-wall of the spring-barrel 24 into hook-like engagement with the rotary stop-arm 23. The opposite or rear end 28 of the said transmitting-spring 25 is hooked around a post 29 rigid with and forwardly projecting from the gear-wheel [8 before referred to.

extends beyond the periphery of the spring-barrel 24 and is bent to provide a rearwardly-projecting arm 30 provided in turn with a substantiallyradially-projecting latching-finger 3|.

Adapted to cooperate with the rotary stop-arm 23 for the purpose of alternately halting and releasing the same, is a pair of corresponding flexible and retirable latching-members 32' and 33 respectively arranged on diametrically-opposite sides of the center of rotation of the said rotary stop-arm 23. The said latching-members.

32 and 33 are preferably formed of spring steel or bronze and are of general L-shaped form as will be seen especially well by reference to Fig. 8. One end each of the latching-members 32 and 33 is formed with a rearwardly-projecting anchoring-finger 34 which is staked or otherwise rigidly secured in a perforation 35 formed in the back-plate I, the said perforations being located diametrically-opposite each other with respect to the shaft 20.

At its .outer or free end, each of the spring latching-members 32 and 33 is formed with a longitudinal slot 36 arranged in line with the latching-finger 3| of the rotary stop-arm 23 and having its transversely-extending outer end-wail positioned to provide a latching abutment 31 for engagement by the latching-finger 3| before referred to in a manner as will more fully hereinafter appear,

Adapted to sequentially or alternately engage with the respective inner faces of the latchingmembers 32 and 33 so as to flex the free ends of the said latching-members outwardly, is a releasing-pin |8a rigid with and forwardly-projecting from the continuously-rotating gear-wheel l8.

Returning now to the intermittently-rotating driven-pinion 2| forming a unit with the rotary stop-arm 23 and the spring-barrel 24, it will be noted by reference to Figs. 1 and 2 that the said pinion meshes into and drives a gear-wheel 38 carrying two spring-pawls 39-39 and which is mounted with freedom for rotation upon a shaft 40. The said shaft 40 is journaled at its rear end in the back-plate II and at its forward end is journaled in a cup-shaped bearing 4| projecting forwardly from the front-plate Ill. The pawls 39-39 carried by the gear-wheel 38 engage with the rear portion of a pinion 42 also mounted upon the shaft 40. The said pinion 42 is located partly to the rear and partly to the front of the frontplate I and has the periphery of its forward por-' tion exposed through one side of the cup-shaped bearing 4| which latter is cut away as at 43 for that purpose.

The forward portion of the pinion 42 meshes into and drives a gear-wheel 44 rigidly attached to the hub 45 of a contact-actuating wheel 46. The gear-wheel 44 and the wheel 46 are mounted for concurrent rotation upon a stud 41 extending forwardly from the front-plate |0 as is particularly well shown in Fig. 2.

Preferably the contact-actuating wheel 46, above referred to, is formed in its entirety of insulating material so as to guard against the passage of stray currents through the mechanism as a whole from the switch-mechanism which the said wheel serves to actuate in a manner as will hereinafter appear. 2

The contact-actuating wheel 46 is formed upon its periphery 48 spaced from each other by a similar number of with three-(more or less) cam-lugs clearance-notches 49. The said cam-lugs arle adapted to sequentially engage with asloping cam-finger 50 formed at the free end of a flexible are lead-wires 56 and 51 which lead to any suitable device which it'is desired to electrically control, such, for instance, as a control-relay of an automatic washing machine or the like.

For the purpose of making clear the operation of the-rotary motion translating device herein chosen for the purpose of illustrating the present invention, let it be assumed that the motorstructure |3 has its lead-wires. I 5 and I6 connected to a suitable source of alternating current so that the driving-pinion I1 is being continuously rotated at a predetermined desired speed. Let it be further assumed that the latch-finger 3| of the rotary stop-arm 23 is, at the time, restrained against turning movement by its engagement with the latching-abutment 31 of the flexible latching-member 32 as is shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 5.

Now as the continuously-rotating gear-wheel l8 turns in a clockwise direction, its releasing-pin |8a will ultimately engage the inner face of the latching-member 32 and thus flex the outer or free end thereof into the position in which it is indicated by broken lines in Fig. 3. As soon as the latchingmember 32 has been sufliciently flexed by the releasing-pin 8a to clear its latching-abutment 31 from the latching-finger 3| of the rotary stop-arm 23, the said stop-arm will be released to the action of the transmittingsprlng and will rapidly turn in a clockwise direction one-half revolution, i. e., until it is positively stopped by its latching-finger 3| entering the slot 36 in the complemental latching-member 33 and impinging against the latching-abutment 3'!v forming the outer end-wall of the said slot.

As a. result of the one-half revolution of the rotary stop-arm 23 as above described, the contact-actuating wheel 46 will be advanced one step through the intermediary of the driven-pinion 2| (directly connected to the stop-arm 23), gearwheel 38, pawls 39-39, pinion 42 and the gearwheel 44. As the parts are proportioned in the particular embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings, the contact-actuating wheel 46 will be advanced in steps of 6 for each half-revolution of the rotary stop-arm 23 as above described.

After the stop-arm has swung through substantially an arc of 180 from the position in which it is shown in Fig. 3 to the position in which it is shown in Fig. 4, the releasing-pin |8a carried by the continuously-rotating gear-wheel l8 will in time arrive at a position where it will engage with the inner face of the latching-member 33 to thereby flex the same outwardly to release the said rotary stop-arm 23 in the same manner as has been above described in connection with the outward flexing of the complemental latching-member 32. When the stoparm 23 is released by the latching-member 33 it will swing through a half revolution under the urge of the transmitting-spring 25 until its latching-finger 3| is halted by engagement with the latching-abutment 31 of the now unflexed latching-member 32.

It may be explained in this connection that after each half revolution 01' the rotary stop-arm 23 under the urge of the transmitting-spring 25, that prior to the next half revolution thereof the said transmitting-spring 25 will be retensioned (over and above the tension placed upon it when first installed) by the action of the continuously-rotating gear-wheel la, the transmitting-spring 25 being coupled at one end to the said gear-wheel by the post 29.

The step-by-step advancement of the contactactuating wheel 46 will, during some of its steps, permit the cam-finger 50 of the flexible contactarm 5| to drop into the clearance-notches 43 to permit the movable-contact 53 to engage with the contact 54 and thus complete a circuit through the lead-wires 56-51. At other stages in its step-by-step movement, the cam-lugs 48 of the contact-actuating wheel 46 will engage with the cam-finger 50 of the flexible contactarm 5| and flex the said contact-arm outwardly to disengage the movable-contact 53 from the stationary-contact 54 to thereby break the circuit between lead-wires 56 and 51.

By alternately checking the rapid movement of the rotary stop-arm 23 or its equivalent by two or more latching-members such as 32 and 33. the burden is so distributed as to proiongthe life of the device.

Furthermore, by limiting the movement of the rotary stop-arm 23, or its equivalent, to but a partial revolution following each release, the gear-train connecting the said stop-arm to the contact-actuating wheel 46 may be of relativelycoarse pitch and therefore more rugged since the degree of gear-reduction required is not as great as though the said rotary stop-arm 23 swung through a full revolution each time that the same was released.

The otary motion translating device of the present invention therefore is not only economical to manufacture but is also capable of withstanding the wear and tear and shocks of long continued use. I

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics oi the invention, and the present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claim are intended to be embraced therein.

- I claim:

A rotary motion translating device including in combination: a substantially-continuouslyrotating driving-member; an intermittentlyrotating driven-member; a stop-member carried by and turning with the said driven-member; a transmitting-spring operatively interposed between the said driving-member and the said driven-member; a releasing-member carried by and turning with the said substantially-continu-- ously-rotating driving-member; and a pair of inherently-resilient corresponding spring-like latching-members circumferentially spaced around the path of movement of the said rotating stop-member and each having a free end directed in the same direction as the direction of rotation of the said releasing-member, each of the said latching-members being formed adjacent its free end with an opening having an outer end-wall providing a stop-abutment integrally connected on each of its respective opposite sides to the main portion of the given latch-member by a side-bar, the respective stop-abutments of 

